Rooster behavior

[Th3moth3rcluck3r]

It must have been your instincts warning you that prompted you to make this thread.

Personally, I've found aggressive cockerels give some signals first which are indicative of aggressive thoughts. The first is an intense stare.
After that they move on to the wing flap while staring. It often looks like something chickens might do to just stretch their wings, but I've observed them using this as a "Stop it, now" among one another. Roosters and dominant hens will flap at the others when they get too rambunctious and everyone quiets right down. Youngsters who actually are stretching their wings or trying to play will get disciplined for flapping their wings.
In cockerels, this early "mouthing off" towards people is eventually followed by easing up on your position, walking sideways, kinda scoping out how much your guard is up.
All of it can look like innocent chicken behaviors, so a lot of people miss it and suddenly find themselves attacked.

I find animals who rely on body language for communication are usually pretty honest about it. Meaning they always give warnings first. If you don't respond or if you happen to back off, they conclude you're weak and easy to defeat. A lot of keepers struggle with the idea that their roo would even want to defeat them. But it's important to understanding animals to recognize the difference between hopes and reality.

I don't play around with wannabe dictators. The flock is mine and I will do what I please without looking over my shoulder. So when I get those early "mouthing off" signs from a cockerel he goes on the "bye bye" list.

We've tried to keep aggressive roos before. What seems to always happen is after the first incident, they just get craftier and craftier about how they approach you. There are eyes always on you, plotting your demise, which is no less than how roosters treat one another. That's just no way to happily chicken keep.
We eventually got a good natured rooster, either mellow enough or smart enough to realize we provide food. I made sure to hatch a lot of his chicks and almost every chicken we have now traces back to him. Even the hens are nicer.

I wouldn't even say he's aggressive yet, as much as it is curious. When we had 2 roos, he was bottom of that pecking order. However, the one that got rehomed, was picking on certain hens and I wasn't having it. So he went to a huge farm that has space and time for that. I'm just a backyard flock keeper with my 8 birds on .5 acres lol. My 10yr old likes to let them out in the mornings and I've even told him to do what's necessary to protect himself if the rooster feels froggy. If he hurts him, I will handle the rest, but his safety comes first. It's really off putting to tell him that, but at the end of the day, they are chickens.

I have noticed when I walk away he starts following me and walking tall. So I stop and turn, and wait for him to walk off. Then continue on, since the punting him into next week. He has learned to not push it. Or so I am hoping. That day I was wearing sandals. I'm used to them getting curious about my nail polish changing colors and pecking my toes. This was different though. He dropped his head and ran at me. When he pecked my foot, he busted a blood vessel so it immediately bruised. He didn't come feet first but it was like he was trying to chase me off. The girls were all in the run and he was the last one. I just dont think he wanted to be put up, or he doesn't like that my 3 top hens lay for me to pet them.

I'm a first time chicken owner, and he does make me slightly nervous. It doesn't help that I have a fear of birds lol, bc the body language is so much different than other animals. To me birds always look so angry.

 

[SourRoses]

I wouldn't even say he's aggressive yet, as much as it is curious. When we had 2 roos, he was bottom of that pecking order. However, the one that got rehomed, was picking on certain hens and I wasn't having it. So he went to a huge farm that has space and time for that. I'm just a backyard flock keeper with my 8 birds on .5 acres lol. My 10yr old likes to let them out in the mornings and I've even told him to do what's necessary to protect himself if the rooster feels froggy. If he hurts him, I will handle the rest, but his safety comes first. It's really off putting to tell him that, but at the end of the day, they are chickens.

I have noticed when I walk away he starts following me and walking tall. So I stop and turn, and wait for him to walk off. Then continue on, since the punting him into next week. He has learned to not push it. Or so I am hoping. That day I was wearing sandals. I'm used to them getting curious about my nail polish changing colors and pecking my toes. This was different though. He dropped his head and ran at me. When he pecked my foot, he busted a blood vessel so it immediately bruised. He didn't come feet first but it was like he was trying to chase me off. The girls were all in the run and he was the last one. I just dont think he wanted to be put up, or he doesn't like that my 3 top hens lay for me to pet them.

I'm a first time chicken owner, and he does make me slightly nervous. It doesn't help that I have a fear of birds lol, bc the body language is so much different than other animals. To me birds always look so angry.

Might I suggest an oversized plastic garden rake. We found ours at a major home improvement chain. *It's not for touching them with*
It's good for shooing them back into the run, held outwards sideways to the body rather than in front of you. And by twisting the handle, the plastic head seems to flap which seems to gain immediate results.
It can also deter an aggressive cockerel. Better than trying to kick them or throw stuff at them. A good armament for the kid at least.

 

[Th3moth3rcluck3r]

Might I suggest an oversized plastic garden rake. We found ours at a major home improvement chain. *It's not for touching them with*
It's good for shooing them back into the run, held outwards sideways to the body rather than in front of you. And by twisting the handle, the plastic head seems to flap which seems to gain immediate results.
It can also deter an aggressive cockerel. Better than trying to kick them or throw stuff at them. A good armament for the kid at least.

Thank you for this. He's still young, so up until that day I hadn't really had a need to carry something with me. I didn't full throttle kick him, bc i never want to intentionally hurt an animal(I've sat and gotten snakes off glue traps). However, in that moment I didn't have anything to grab to shoo him in any direction and he was coming for me lol. I know to not back down, but I'm also not going to let myself become a bloody mess bc he wants to spar either. When he got up the second time you could tell it was only his ego that was hurt lol.